Dependency and its Relationship to the Assessment of Care Needs of Elderly People

Correspondence to Dr Ian Gibbs, Social Policy Research Unit, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, Heslington, York, YO1 5DD Summary A number of previous studies of old people in residential homeshave suggested that a substantial minority are not in need ofthat form of care. The rapid growth in the number of peoplein private homes, supported by social security payments andentering without any independent assessment, has led to concernthat many more people enter residential homes without needingto be there. Social workers were employed in four areas to assess the needsof residents newly admitted to homes in the independent sectorand over eighty per cent were found to be in need of residentialcare. It is suggested that the measures of dependency used toindicate need in some previous studies fail to take into accountthe complex factors involved in deciding whether a person needsresidential care.     

Reception to Prison

Summary The paper is concerned with the admission process to prison.The paper begins by outlining some of the current views on theeffects of imprisonment and the adjustment of the inmate toprison life. Gofiman in particular has identified the importantpart played by admission procedures in depriving the individualof his personal identity and immersing him in the institutionalsystem.The authors studied the admission procedures at two penalestablishments to see how far these showed the characteristicsdescribed by Gofrman as being 'fairly standard in total institutions'.The paper describes how the study was conducted, and gives anaccount of the admission procedure at the institutions. In theirfindings the authors try to assess the impact of this systemon the inmate, and its significance within the total socialsystem of the institution. The study casts doubt on the generalapplicability of Goffman's hypothesis, but at the same timeshows that the admission procedure has a potential for introducingthe inmate to his new environment in a constructive way, whichis not being realized within the present system     

Tracing the Causes of Stress in Families with Handicapped Children

Summary Variations in the level of stress in mothers with very severelydisabled children do not appear to be associated with the characteristicsof the disabled child or the social and economic circumstancesof the family. The level of stress in a sample of mothers didnot change after they had received help from the Family Fund.